This show was webcast via LivePhish. Runaway Jim contained quotes by Trey of theme from Shaft including "Who's the green private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks? Cactus! John Cactus." Before Halfway to the Moon, Trey noted that the band is excited about the tune, and he hopes that it makes the new album, Wingsuit. Bowie featured teases of Jesus Just Left Chicago (in the intro) and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor (in the jam). Twist included a Long Tall Glasses tease and quote, a Get Back tease, and an Under Pressure jam. The keywords for Makisupa were "Bush" and "O.G. Kush." Both keywords were repeated throughout this version of Makisupa and were referenced later in the set during Meatstick and Boogie On, which also included a tease of the theme from The Rockford Files by Mike. Sally contained a Shaft quote and ended with a Call to the Post tease.

Show Reviews

Set 1: A very fine first set, one of the better of the tour. The Runaway Shaft is quite amusing, Sand gives us another tight Type I jam, and Bowie has been as good as it's been this year.

Set 2: Goodness me. Every time I think I have a handle on "favorite (x)" of the Fall, the band pulls out another glorious jam and makes me have to revise. Twist starts off at a nice simmering boil, enters the land of teasefests, then enters a beautiful, almost *composed* jam, reminiscent of the almost composed jam in the 6/28/00 Bathtub Gin. The Under Pressure jam, while understandably sloppy, is lots of fun - much like Piper -> TCB, it's something out of the early days, and it's hard not to get a little pumped when they play the song's bridge instead of just the familiar riff. And rather than end things there, the band goes into one more hose segment, just as powerful as any hose segment from this tour. That's another A+ jam to add to the ledger.

Jibboo pops up next, and it feels meatier than Jibboo usually does (thankfully), then the band goes into a super goofy Makisupa (you could easily extrapolate that they were blowing off steam after the Halloween show), from which semi-improvised ending Light emerges - I don't get Twist -> Jibboo, but I could very easily see Makisupa -> Light, as Trey sort of throws out some chords and then picks the Light opening out of the mix. Light takes its time to find a new theme after an (impressive as usual) "regular" Light jam, but picks up and downshifts to a minor-chord beat, then gets funky and sharp as Fish fires off military-style fills before dying away into loop-laden, spooky space. Trey starts up a really nice riff as the band continues to get nice and weird behind him, Page fooling around with effects and Mike dropping bombs, and the jam picks back up into something rock-ish...

...and then Trey rolls into CDT, which is a *technical* -> because it's not too far removed from CDT and the band never stopped between songs, but felt a bit too jarring for my tastes. At least the resulting CDT is powerful, and a fun Meatstick > Boogie On > Wedge sequence leads into yet another very nice Slave. The Sally at the end, with another Shaft quote and a neat funk breakdown, is the super icing on the cake (it would have fit in much better as part of Set 2 than a stand-alone encore).

Final thoughts: Top to bottom, yet another contender for show of the tour. Another monstrous jam, a darn good one in Light, great flow all throughout, Jibboo and Meatstick if that's your thing. Fall 2013 continues to delivers the goods.

Tonight, I felt that Phish played with a weight off their shoulders compared with Halloween. Yes, it's possible for 30-year veterans to have a case of the nerves, and, to me at least, the prospect of debuting an entire set of new music had them slightly off of their game Thursday night. In constrast, Friday's show was "tight but loose" with a lot of weirdness sprinkled through a well-played, well-jammed show.

The first set got off to a nice start with Cavern. Runaway Jim's pre-jam bass breakdown had an extended plinko-y sequence and you know the boys were having fun when Trey started quoting "Shaft" - "the green private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks... John Cactus." Trey again thanked the crowd for their support on Thursday night, before they launched into a nice version of Halfway to the Moon. Everything else was well played, with Possum and Bowie being the highlights to these ears.

Set two kept the Fall Tour string of amazing jams intact. The jam out of Twist was prolonged and nuanced, and featured an attempt at Queen's Under Pressure, with Fishman hilariously mumbling the lyrics. Jibboo kept the energy high and had some nice moments, which gave way to perhaps the oddest Makisupa I've heard. Using the keywords OG Kush and Bush, the boys went into a demented dub session, each speeding up, slowing down, or repeating said words a la dub reggae production greats Lee Perry, King Tubby, et al.

Light had another nice jam that Trey eventually ripcorded in favor of a concise, rocking Chalk Dust. Boogie On had a nice funky breakdown and Slave wrapped the show up on a triumphant note. Phish wasn't yet done having fun, with Sneakin Sally given an extended treatment with a deep funk breakdown, killer vocal jam, and, why not, another Shaft reference.

I personally liked the Chalk Dust ripcord (which wasn't really), as well as the CDT>Meatstick>Boogie section. Sometimes I like actual Phish songs that are played well, especially after the type II fun earlier in the set. The 'S' songs kicked ass in this show: Sand, Slave, and Sally (Sugar Shack was fine but I mostly meant those three).

To this day, 11/1/13 has stood out as one of the best in 3.0. This is definitely in my Top 3 shows of all time...the environment in Atlantic City was fun, and the phans were already in a natural high from the Halloween celebrations the night before. Is it stupid to say that everyone knew that the show was going to be amazing before it even started? That's how it felt...

Set 1: As mentioned in other reviews, definitely one of the strongest 1st sets of 2013 (if not the best). Cavern, Runaway Jim, and Sand as the first 3 songs to start off the night were all funky and tight. Enjoyable versions of "Possum" and "Tube" (Possum's greatness is even noted here on Phish.net). To be a fair critic, I'd say the lowest point of the show was "When The Circus Comes" > "Sugar Shack". The band always seems to have trouble with "Shack in general...even though I do enjoy the song. "Jesus Left Chicago" included some roaring Blues licks from Trey and the "David Bowie" set closer is the best version I've probably seen live. Listening to Trey go off from around 8:00-10:00 is just mind blowing...my jaw was literally dropped watching this beauty unfold before my eyes.

Set 2: The 20 minute "Twist" was not only incredibly beautiful and ambient, but then some comedy was tossed in when the band went into "Under Pressure". Mostly from Fishman who made everybody laugh their asses off from his mumbling of lyrics. "Gotta Jibboo" is probably the most underrated jam of the night, "Makisupa" and "Meatstick" just reinforced the party atmosphere in the hall that night. Trey did phuck up "The Wedge" but his playing the rest of the night makes up for it. "Light" was lengthy, funky, and went many different places, "Chalkdust" and "Boogie" were very tight, but both short and sweet...The entire group nailed "Slave" to end the set.

Encore: A totally awesome and incredibly phunky 11 min "Sally" to end the show. The band was dead on just about the entire night...most of the songs venturing into many beautiful/different areas (Runaway Jim, Light, Jibboo, & Bowie). A must listen for any PHAN!

I can hear the phun in this show. From the John Cactus-infused Runaway Jim, to a great latter-day Sand, to the Mike bass-synth effects in Halfway to the Moon, to the rare Jesus Just Left Chicago, the first set has got a lot going for it. Everything is played stylishly and the band seems rejuvenated by the previous night's debut of what was then to be their album Wingsuit (which became their album Fuego.) Twist to open the second set is certainly long, but the Under Pressure antics have worn thin upon this relisten, though the Light jam is very stimulating. They revisit the Shaft antics in the Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley encore. I'm not much of a scenemaker so I don't necessarily know whereof I speak, but this weekend in Las Vegas feels as if it was a highpoint in Phishtory for the band and the audience both.

Many factors made this one of my favorite shows to date. I enjoyed every song of this show without exception. Haven't danced that hard since I don't know when. Won almost $200 on the slots after the show too! Twist>Jibboo>Makisupa was an absolute blast, very funny, very much the band we all know and love. A beautiful Slave and the encore was the icing on the cake.

Easily the best show of the tour. After an embarrassing Jim and Sand, Trey recovers his finger dexterity and plays more crisply and fluidly than he has all tour for most of the show. Gotta love this Tube, still contained but bristling with unusual creativity. A great Bowie would've really been sweet but this one's merely competent. Twist is sublime, the jam of the tour until it gets ruined by the godawful "Under Pressure" BS and never recovers. Jibboo is pure uplifting ebullience, and Makisupa is focking hilarious. Light seems destined for rote template rock but the fadeout results in a totally original bubbly ambient piece, marvelous stuff, and a nice angry swell into a hot Chalk Dust, not smooth but fiery stuff. Otherwise a goofy but mildly interesting (other than Wedge) rest of the set, capped by a short but inspired Slave and very generous silly Sally encore. Figures, tour's almost over and they're finally hitting their stride.

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